Mission impossible: stopping Stephen Curry
Baby-faced sophomore has 70 points in 2 games, and he's been clutch
 Streeter Lecka / Getty Images Davidson's Stephen Curry celebrates after his team's 82-76 victory Gonzaga during the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 21. |
|
 | March Madness |
 | NCAA men's tournament bracket Get game stories, scores, stats, rosters, more from our special feature. NBCSports.com |
The kid’s 6-3 in sneakers and listed at 185, but a betting man would take the under at 165. He looks like he should be getting his courage up to ask a girl in math class to the prom. Just stop him. How tough can it be?
Gonzaga can tell you, and now so can Georgetown. Not only has Davidson sophomore Stephen (pronounced Steffin) Curry scored 70 points through two games to put the No. 10 seed Wildcats into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1969, but he has done it when all the chips have been down — when his team has absolutely had to have him.
In short, he has made a name for himself that college basketball fans will never forget. Stunned Georgetown defenders, who saw Curry erupt for 25 points in the second half, certainly won’t. Neither will anyone associated with Gonzaga after suffering though 30 from Curry in the second half of their first-round game.
As the Hoyas’ season was slipping through their fingers, Curry rose up for a 3 while still facing the scorer’s table, 23 feet from the hoop, twisted and swished it—with Georgetown’s Chris Wright so close the wrist snap caught him on the forehead. At least four Georgetown players took a turn guarding Curry man-to-man, and throughout the game the team switched immediately on screens for him while also mixing in some zone looks. “It was hard to stop him,” guard Jessie Sapp says, “but we tried.”
Those words should send a shiver up the spines of the Wisconsin Badgers, who, like the Hoyas, are accustomed to winning with defense; they face Curry next in the Sweet 16.
Curry shoots fast, shoots soft and is one of those never-stop-moving guys in the mold of Rip Hamilton. He’s also quick, a good ballhandler and even a strong finisher around the hoop.
”I try to have that feeling (that it’s going in) every time I shoot the ball,” he says. “You don’t want to shoot not to miss; you want to shoot to make it.”
Curry also happens to be very smart (as are his teammates, who use every trick in the book to get him open) and supremely conditioned; he played 39 minutes against the Zags and 36 against the Hoyas and relishes wearing down defenders.
It’s entirely possible that defending Curry is impossible. “He’s too good to say you’re going to stop him,” Georgetown coach John Thompson says. “He has not been stopped all year.” Curry scored 24 against North Carolina, 29 against North Carolina State and 20 against Duke.
And he has a little genetic advantage, to boot. His father, Dell, carved out a 16-year NBA career as an elite shooter, and he probably thought he’d go down as at least the best long-range bomber in the Curry family. Maybe not.
”He moves so well off the ball, it’s tough,” Dell says when asked how he would defend Stephen. “He could always shoot the basketball, and watching my game in the NBA and just talking to him, he learned how to use screens and move without the ball. He’s gotten very good at it.”
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
LowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM COLLEGE BASKETBALL |
 College basketball Section Front |
| Add College basketball headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links